The Vice President of Education & Program Development serves as the executive leader responsible for the vision, strategy, innovation, development, implementation, evaluation, and growth of all National Inventors Hall of Fame educational programs, products, and professional learning experiences.
As a member of the Executive Leadership Team, this individual provides strategic direction for NIHF's education portfolio, ensuring all offerings advance the organization's mission while creating sustainable growth and national impact. The Vice President of Education leads the full lifecycle of educational innovation, from research and development through implementation, scaling, assessment, and continuous improvement.
This position serves as the primary visionary for invention education strategy, content development, educational research, district partnerships, and thought leadership. The role requires an executive leader who can successfully align educational excellence, operational discipline, customer needs, revenue growth, and mission impact.
Core Areas of Responsibility:Strategic Educational Leadership- Establish and steward the long-range vision for NIHF's education portfolio.
- Lead strategic planning for program expansion, innovation, and national growth.
- Monitor emerging educational trends, technologies, policy developments, and district priorities.
- Ensure alignment between educational strategy and organizational strategic priorities.
- Serve as a key advisor to the CEO on educational opportunities, risks, and growth and development initiatives.
R&D and Innovation- Oversee the research, design, development, and modernization of curricula, programs, products, supplemental pieces, and experiences.
- Lead cross-functional innovation initiatives from concept through go-to-market strategy and national implementation.
- Ensure all offerings are aligned with educational standards, district needs, best practices in key fields (e.g., OST) and proven instructional practices.
- Develop systems for evaluating, refining, and scaling educational products and services.
- Oversee the integration of key data-from surveys to focus groups to research and evaluation results to inform R&D.
- Build a multi-year innovation pipeline supporting future growth.
Research and Evaluation- Lead invention education research and evaluation efforts and partnerships.
- Develop relationships with researchers, universities, foundations, networks, and educational organizations.
- Ensure data-informed decision making across the education department.
- Establish outcome measures and evidence of impact.
- Position NIHF as a national leader in research-informed invention education.
Leadership and Team Development- Build and lead a high-performing education leadership team.
- Strengthen leadership, management, and creative and technical capacity throughout the department.
- Establish clear accountability, performance expectations, and professional growth opportunities.
- Foster a culture of innovation, continuous improvement, collaboration, compassion, and accountability.
- Develop succession plans and talent pipelines for future organizational needs.
District Partnerships, Sales Alignment, and Professional Development - Partner strategically with Sales to support district acquisition, retention, and growth.
- Participate in key district and partner engagements.
- Ensure professional learning experiences are scalable, impactful, and aligned with customer needs.
- Support implementation models that maintain program fidelity while enabling growth.
- Strengthen NIHF's reputation as a trusted educational partner.
Marketing, Brand, and Thought Leadership - Collaborate with Marketing and Creative leaders to elevate NIHF's educational brand nationally.
- Guide strategy related to curricula assets, multimedia development, and educational storytelling.
- Represent NIHF at national conferences and industry events.
- Build visibility and influence across education, STEM, innovation, and workforce development sectors.
Operational Excellence - Partner with Operations leadership to create scalable systems that support program growth.
- Lead long-range planning related to educational materials, fulfillment, implementation, and delivery.
- Identify efficiencies that improve quality, customer experience, and profitability.
- Ensure organizational infrastructure can support future expansion.
Fundraising and Strategic Partnerships - Partner with Development leadership to align fundraising priorities with educational strategy.
- Support cultivation of foundation, corporate, and government partners.
- Help identify and develop high-impact funding opportunities.
- Leverage educational trends and research to strengthen grant proposals and donor engagement.
Qualifications: - Master's degree or higher in Education, Learning Sciences, STEM/STEAM Education, Educational Leadership, Science Communication, or related field.
- Minimum of 10 years of progressive leadership experience in K-12 education, educational products, curriculum development, STEM education, museum education, nonprofit education, or related fields.
- Demonstrated success leading large-scale educational programs and teams.
- Experience developing revenue-generating educational products or programs.
- Strong understanding of district decision-making, educational policy, curriculum trends, and implementation models.
- Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams and strategic organizational initiatives.
- Exceptional communication, presentation, and relationship-building skills.
- Ability to regularly work in the office and attend in-person meetings.
- Ability to communicate effectively via email, chat, phone, and in-person meetings.
- Requires regular, reliable, and on-time attendance.
- Ability to travel 25-35% nationally.
